Chemical Engineering Conference (CHEMECA 2023), 1–3 October Chemmat in collaboration with IChemE (Institute of Chemical Engineering) hosted CHEMECA 2023 at the Hilton, Auckland. The conference theme was “Leading the Transition into a Sustainable Future” and the conference attracted more than 200 delegates from across Australia and New Zealand.

Contributing towards the sustainable theme, BECA Engineering and Toyota provided two hydrogen cars which were the centrepieces of the conference. Industry plenary speakers from Fonterra, Hiringa Energy and Bremworth shared their organization’s experiences along the sustainability journey.

Another key highlight was the Hackathon student case competition which had Chemical Engineering student groups pitching their design ideas to help the dairy industry transition into a more sustainable energy mix for the future. With the outreach support from the Faculty of Engineering, we also had 40 high school students (years 11, 12, 13) from around Auckland join the conference, getting a flavour of chemical engineering at this important stage of their secondary education.

Conference organizing committee: Meng Wai Woo (Chair), Saeid Baroutian (Technical Chair), Filicia Wicaksana, Shan Yi, Brent Young, Mark Jones, Peng Cao, Ashvin Thambyah, Isuru Udugama, Chanelle Gavin, Carlo Carere, Peter Kovalski, Natalie Angelone, Catherine Muldoon, Suzanne Hay (Hackathon Chair), David Pearce, David Platts, Nikhil Susarla, Hugh Barlow, Benjy Lee, Oliver Doube.